Clinical care unit 'will not open any time soon'

The new critical care unit was originally scheduled to open in autumn 2024

A new clinical care unit at Guernsey's Princess Elizabeth Hospital "will not open any time soon", the island's top civil servant has warned.

In June, the BBC revealed the opening of the unit had been delayed.

Initially the project, which made up phase one of the hospital modernisation project, was scheduled to be completed by autumn 2024.

States of Guernsey chief executive Boley Smillie said: "There are issues that need to be resolved, issues I cannot talk about unfortunately."

The BBC understands problems with the installation of new ventilation units and the placement of some walls have caused some of the delays.

Health and Social Care President George Oswald said during the last political term there was no political oversight of the project.

Boley Smillie has been in post since January

Mr Smillie admitted the States needed to be more transparent, but said commercial relationships sometimes got in the way of that: "There is always reasons why we have to deal with things behind the scenes.

"But you know there's no hiding from the fact that we've got to do better on some of these projects."

In a speech to a local think tank Mr Smillie, who has been in post since January, said the States struggled with accountability.

"When it comes to large projects, accountability starts to dilute.

"Some people are stretched across too many projects, we need people to be focused on delivering outcomes and that works very well in some areas, in some areas we have got to hold our hands up so we can do better."

Despite the problems, he focussed on recent successes, when it came to delivering big projects.

"The Liberation Day celebration took a lot of organisation.

"The election whilst people talk about the results and whether island-wide voting is a good thing or a bad thing, actually the operation of the election was brilliantly run by officers.

"We were declaring results much earlier than anyone would have expected of us, so there's lots to be proud of and lots to be positive about.

"What we have got to do better on those large-scale projects is be more outcome-focused we have got to make sure that accountability and responsibility is clear, as it is not as clear as it could be."